For nearly nine months now, thousands of farmers have remained camped out at Delhi's borders protesting against three contentious farm laws. Now, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) is all set to give fresh impetus to the movement. The umbrella body of protesting farm unions will be leading a peaceful protest from Delhi's Jantar Mantar.
According to the Kisan Ekta Morcha Twitter handle the 'Kisan Parliament' will begin on Thursday, and take place "everyday till monsoon ends". The protests, they emphasised, will be peaceful, with all agitators having identification badges.
"200 farmer protestors will hold demonstrations outside Parliament with their only demand to REPEAL FARM LAWS," read the tweet on the official handle of the protesters. The Delhi Police had on Wednesday permitted the farmers to hold a demonstration at the Jantar Mantar.
"I, along with eight others (protesting farmers) will leave for the Singhu border, and then will go to Jantar Mantar. We will hold 'Kisan Sansad' at Jantar Mantar. We will monitor Parliament proceedings," BKU leader Rakesh Tikait said.
In a series of tweets shared on Thursday morning, the Kisan Ekta Morcha reminded that the government and farmers had already held around a dozen rounds of meetings, without any consensus being reached. "Now that the govt is not paying heed, farmers are heading to protest outside Parliament," they added.
"The Farm Unions are in full zeal to intensify the protest, as they have planned to move toward the Parliament on tractors with farmer protestors Additionally, demonstrations are taking place all across the nation," read another post.
Farmers have been permitted to protest at Jantar Mantar with limited numbers not exceeding 200 persons for Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) and six persons for Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) from 11 am upto 5 pm daily.
Security has been tightened in anticipation of the protests. Visuals from Jantar Mantar show heavy deployment of security personnel and barricades blocking off the area.
(with inputs from agencies)
